Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - (Multi-format)
Developer: Toys For Bob
Format: Multi-format
Genre: Arcade


Fun for kids, but that's about it



Film tie-ins should send out warning signals to any seasoned gamer. And unfortunately this is the case with Escape 2 Africa. Hurried and rushed out to meet the film's release date, this by-the-numbers platformer is a no-brainer if you're expecting a fresh take on your 360 play.

The basic structure of the game, its style and presentation isn't awful, it's just in the execution that it falls down. Basically it ties in loosely with the film in that it's up to Alex the Lion (initially anyway) to get all the animal chums back together, back on the plane and back to the their New York zoo. Along the way you'll pass through the Watering Hole, a base of sorts where other characters can interact and take over and then take part in the myriad of mini-games and monkey-collecting missions that are dotted around the African environments.

A sound (if unimaginative) premise quickly throws up a disjointed experience, basic platform elements and simplistic problem solving. Add to this a frequently frustrating camera angle, poorly scripted cut-scenes and a lack of gaming imagination and this Christmas-cash grabbing title will leave you colder then the African sunset it promised.

It's in the details; taking control of a speeding jeep, and a battalion of penguins should be seriously fun. But with bad jeep physics and the aforementioned camera angle, it's just too annoying to keep the four wheels on the track. With some chums involved in some of the multiplayer mini-games, the bar is raised slightly - but only just. And at times, the joy of the free-roaming environments is overpowered by the lack of plot and game direction.

The Madagascar experience should probably be confined to the cinema only.